Matouk linen company planning $10 million expansion

Creating renowned linens from textiles imported from Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, third-generation company John Matouk & Co. — which relocated to the Fall River Industrial Park — is preparing for a $10 million expansion while nearly doubling its work force.“We’re still in the pl...

Creating renowned linens from textiles imported from Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, third-generation company John Matouk & Co. — which relocated to the Fall River Industrial Park — is preparing for a $10 million expansion while nearly doubling its work force.

“We’re still in the planning phase,” said George Matouk, company CEO. “It’s a nice thing to be planning.”

A new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing building slated to cost about $8 million is planned for spring construction after permitting is completed, said Kenneth Fiola Jr. of the Fall River Office of Economic Development.

Another 20,000 square feet would be added to that building in a second phase.

John Matouk & Co. plans to add 70 jobs, most of them in manufacturing, to its 85-person work force, which includes manufacturing, administration, office and retail positions for the factory outlet store.

The established upscale linen company — which now operates at 925 Airport Road after relocating from New Bedford in 2006 — will present plans to subdivide its land at the Oct. 1 Planning Board meeting. The public hearing will be held at 5 p.m. in the Engineering Department on the fifth floor of Government Center.

A quarter-acre of the 6-acre site at Robb Way would be subdivided and connected to that road to extend it 250 feet with a turn-around to Matouk’s new site, Planning Director Elizabeth Dennehy said.

The 5.7-acre building site — backing up to Matouk’s facility on Airport Road — includes a portion of the Pacheco farm property the company is acquiring from a private owner and the Greater Fall River Development Corp., the industrial park owner.

CEO Matouk Jr.’s grandfather started John Matouk & Co. in 1929.

The current plant sits on about 4 acres near the landfill and watertower and houses all aspects of the business. It would transfer the operation — where imported linen fabrics are embroidered for worldwide distribution — to the new, larger building.

Shipping and distribution would be significantly expanded, Fiola said.

“We’d like to be breaking ground in the late spring of 2013,” Matouk said.

While the past two decades have seen a huge diminishment in the city’s sewing industry, Matouk said his company survived by going upscale.

“We do very high-end bed and bath linens,” Matouk said. “Towels, robes. We moved our product into the ultra-luxury category.”

Matouk said that gives his company an edge over foreign competition, which typically focuses on producing large quantities of less expensive goods.

Both the state and city are lined up to support the company’s growth, Fiola said.

Earlier this month, Fiola said FROED applied for a $580,500 MassWorks Infrastructure Grant through the state Department of Housing and Community Development to extend utilities from Robb Way to the Matouk property.

Page 2 of 2 - Sidewalks would be built along that road and connect to Courant Road, where a bus stop is in place and workers without vehicles could commute to work.

Fiola did not know the wage scales for the fabrication jobs. He said typically they are in the $12 to $15 an hour range with benefits.

Matouk — after buying in 2005 its current property with a single-story metal building for $2.2 million — obtained a five-year tax break that was met and has expired, Fiola said.

They projected retaining 45 jobs and adding 12 new ones with the TIF awarded in 2006. Fiola expects the company to apply for a new TIF under the expansion. It must be approved by the City Council and the state.